When Reilly and Hanley put the belief back in British rugby league

What had started with a shock win in Sydney in 1988, when Malcolm Reilly’s side was completely written off, was continued two years later when the touring Australians this time arrived in England.

They may have included such luminaries as former Castleford imports Gary Belcher and Bob Linder, the colossal Balmain forwards Steve Roach and Paul Sironen plus brilliant scrum-half Allan Langer, all giants of the game – in the physical sense as well as metaphorical when it comes to legendary captain Mal Meninga – but it all meant nothing when faced by Reilly’s inspired Britain on October 27, 1990.

Their swagger was destroyed as outstanding British captain Ellery Hanley led his heroic side in one of the nation’s finest Test performances, securing a 19-12 victory to leave their stunned opponents in panic mode at the start of the three-Test series.

For all Australia’s superstars, this was a time where Britain had their own world-class operators playing some of their best football, too – Hanley, Garry Schofield, Andy Gregory and Martin Offiah – while another was just emerging on the international scene.

Rugged Sheffield Eagles centre Daryl Powell had recently become the South Yorkshire club’s first capped player when he debuted against France in Avignon earlier that year and then enhanced his reputation on the tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Powell, then 25, was selected to face the formidable Kangaroos in what was deemed a pragmatic centre partnership with Leeds’s Carl Gibson.

Reilly selected them for a reason, though. He knew the pairing had the defensive quality to stand up to the menacing presence of the Austalian’s marauding centres Meninga and Mark McGaw, two huge and revered threequarters who really should have been earning a living in the pack.

“We probably gave away four or five stone each!” laughed Powell, recalling the afternoon.

“There was a significant difference in that size factor but we both tackled well that day.

“It was my first series on home soil and to be playing at Wembley in an international game against the Australians was unbelievable.

“I enjoyed the build-up to it all massively but remember being pretty nervous, too.

“I actually asked the doc for a couple of sleeping tablets which I’d never taken before or again since.

“It was immense for us to put in the kind of performance we did, though. Myself and Carl Gibson managed a difficult defensive job up against those centres and I had a hand in a couple of tries with a big involvement in one.

“It was just a big day for me, personally, and for Great Britain.”

Powell was part of the breathtaking chip move which put Paul Eastwood over in the corner for a crucial try.

The under-rated Hull winger – who scored twice and kicked three goals – was the polar opposite to the flash Offiah on the other flank but had the game of his life.

“I put him over in the first half after Garry Schofield had broke, too,” says Powell.

“He was a good goalkicker – a left-footer – and good finisher as well… stocky, with a low centre of gravity, which made him difficult to handle anywhere near the try line.

“We put them under pressure and took our chances when we got them.

“Ellery Hanley was just outstanding, Garry Schofield used his chip kicks to perfection and they are the things you need to do against the Aussies; take your chances but defend exceptionally well, too.

“We get a great opportunity to replicate that day this weekend.”

Featherstone Rovers coach Powell, now 46, is one of Steve McNamara’s assistant in England’s current Four Nations campaign, and will be on the touchline when international rugby league returns to Wembley for the first time in 14 years on Saturday.

Where Hanley, Schofield and Gregory were the creative brains, now read Tomkins, Chase and Sinfield as England bid to force another shock.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work and a massive amount of commitment from every player who takes to the field over the entire 80 minutes,” says Powell, when asked what it requires to defeat the Green and Golds.

“Absolutely everything has to be spot on and you cannot clock off at any point.

“Rugby league is a tough sport and to win at international level takes a great deal of character and confidence. We had a lot of those players in ’90 and it’s the same here now in this squad.”

Unfortunate Great Britain lost the next Test at Old Trafford, Meninga backing up Ricky Stuart’s crucial break in the final seconds, before Australia secured the series at Elland Road.

Powell admitted: “One of the most disappointed times I’ve ever felt was at the end of that match.

“We were a fraction away from beating them in the second Test and had them on the rack in three Test series.

“It was a great era for us. Malcolm Reilly was the foundation of it all and crucial to the way we went about things. He put real belief back in British rugby league.”